Ministry of Agriculture &
Farmers Welfare
CBBOs and FPOs to play significant role in doubling of farmers’ income: Shri Kailash Choudhary
2nd Regional Conference of Cluster-Based Business Organizations  and Farmer Producer Organizations  inaugurated today in Panchkula
Cluster-Based Business Organizations  and Farmer Producer Organizations  will play significant role in doubling of farmers income and to fulfil the visionary dream of Hon’ble Prime Minister for which he encouraged CBBOs and FPOs to do continuous hard work for benefits of farmers of the country. Union Minister of State for Agriculture and Farmers Welfare Shri Kailash Choudhary said this today after inaugurating a regional conference for CBBOs and FPOs under the 10,000 FPO Scheme of Government of India in Panchkula, Haryana. The minister appreciated the efforts made so far and directed the CBBOs and Implementing Agencies to focus on supporting FPOs, motivating farmers to contribute the equity, apply for the support.
Minister of Agriculture, Government of Haryana, Shri Jai Prakash Dalal encouraged farmers/FPOs for sustainable income-oriented farming & emphasized the importance of the collective action. On the occasion, he said that he is confident that this scheme will meet the need and aspirations of FPOs and create a supportive ecosystem for them; and thus FPOs will be viable and economically sustainable.
Considering CBBOs significance and FPOs experience in the field level implementation, 50 representatives of CBBOs and 300 representatives from FPOs working in Haryana, Himachal Pradesh, Jammu & Kashmir, Ladakh and Punjab are invited in today’s regional conference. All the Implementing Agencies, senior officers from State Governments dealing with FPOs are also invited.
Dr N. Vijaya Lakshmi, Joint Secretary , Ministry of Agriculture & Farmers’ Welfare, Government of India, addressed the gathering and shared the progress of the scheme which also includes benefits provided to FPOs under the scheme, expectations from CBBOs and take forward the scheme in the way and manner as it was envisaged.
Dr. Arjun Saini, Managing Director, SFAC- Haryana, offered vote of thanks to the dignitaries and the participants of the conference. He further added that SFACH has pioneered the formation & promotion of FPOs and is progressing towards establishing an ecosystem for FPOs to make them sustainable.
Aggregation of small and marginal farmers into FPOs enhances economic strength, bargaining power & market linkages of farmers for their better income. Realizing the significance of FPOs, Government of India had formulated a new Central Sector Scheme titled "Formation and Promotion of 10,000 Farmer Produce Organizations " which was formally launched by Hon'ble Prime Minister of India on 29.02.2020 at Chitrakoot  with budgetary provision of Rs 6,865 crore. The scheme is based on produce cluster approach and to enhance the production, productivity, market access, promote diversification, value addition, processing, and export and to create agri-based employment opportunities with the result to economically empower farmers. While adopting cluster-based approach, formation of FPOs will be focussed on “One District One Product” for development of product specialization.
Under the scheme, there is provision for financial support of Rs.18.00 lakh per FPO for 3 years as management cost to make them sustainable and economically viable. To strengthen the financial base of FPOs, there is also provision for matching equity grant of Rs. 2000/- per member with ceiling of Rs. 15 lakh /FPO. A Credit Guarantee facility up to bankable project loan of Rs. 2.00 crore is also available for FPOs under the scheme. The CBBOs have been provisioned with the critical role to engage themselves all along the value chain starting right from mobilization of farmers, baseline survey, identification of produce clusters, formation of groups, registration, and capacity building to preparation of business plan, execution thereof with assurance to provide the market to the FPOs. They are also to establish cardinal link with Implementing Agencies and FPOs.
Progress in State of :
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410 produce clusters have been allocated and 280 FPOs registered
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More than 39.38 thousand farmers have been mobilized under the Scheme.
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About 24.99 thousand farmers have been registered as shareholders of the FPOs.
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Equity contribution by farmer members amounts to INR 4.54 crores.
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26 FPOs registered in tribal districts.
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19 FPOs registered in aspirational districts.
The Regional conference aims at improving the performance of the 10K FPO scheme by bringing together all stakeholders and by supporting and encouraging farmers to participate in the programme. With this objective in mind, the Ministry for Agriculture & Farmers Welfare, Government of India is reaching out to the all the State Governments and other stakeholders through the Regional Conferences.
This is the 2nd Regional Conference for 3 Northern States  and 2 UTs . More than 300 participants including State Govt. Officials, CBBOs, and FPOs from 3 States  and 2 UTs  participated in the program.
A National Conference for Cluster-Based Business Organizations was held on 21st April 2022 in New Delhi under the Chairmanship of Hon’ble Minister for Agriculture & Farmers Welfare in which more than 300+ participants from Implementing Agencies, CBBOs, FPOs and other stakeholders discussed about key achievements and challenges for the 10,000 FPO scheme. A Regional Conference for Cluster-Based Business Organizations and Farmer Producer Organizations from 4 Western Region States  was organized in Jaipur on 06 May 2022. Few more such Regional Conferences are planned in other regions to reach out to stakeholders under the 10,000 FPO scheme across the country.